On a big Cleveland weekend, Brian Hoyer gets some spotlight

Posted by Darin Gantt on July 12, 2014, 9:43 AM EST

AP

On a weekend when Cleveland gets to rise up out of its collective Clevelandness and feel good about all its sports teams, it’s only natural that the Browns quarterback throws out the first pitch at the Indians game.

No, not that one. The other one. The starter.

The Browns announced that Brian Hoyer would do the honors at this afternoon’s game, a brief reminder that he is, in fact, the starting quarterback for the local professional football franchise.

Of course, Hoyer took the opportunity of yesterday’s return of NBA star LeBron James to subtly underscore that message as well.

While everyone was celebrating the return of the King, Hoyer latched onto another passage of James’ letter home.

Best quote from @KingJames article. "In Northeast Ohio, nothing is given. Everything is earned. You work for what you have" #Cleveland

The question is whether the Browns will have an actual open competition for the starting QB job this summer or not. Because if it’s real and not a sham, Hoyer will win. Not saying that Manziel isn’t the better long term prospect, but right now Hoyer is the better NFL ready QB.

The reality in Cleveland re: QBs is that it doesn’t matter who wins the starting QB job. The starter will either A. Get injured in September, B. Suck so bad that he is replaced by October, or C. Both A & B.

Source: 21st century history.

Both guys need to be ready. Connor Shaw and Tyler Thigpen better be familiar with the playbook too.

Hoyer reminds me a lot of Alex Smith… a real teammate who puts team ahead of self. I expect Smith to have a ring before Kap has one, and I also see Hoyer having one at some point in the future. Johnny Boy? I see him ending up in jail or else back-up dancing on stage for his little buddy Justin Bieber.

Funny you should bring up “passive aggressive” because while you get passive with teams like the Browns you get aggressively positive with teams like the Broncos and aggressively negative with that certain team in South Florida…I call them the Dolphins, while you call them Magoo and the Bullies.

Great tweet! While many others make really poor choices with their tweets, Hoyer has shown some real maturity here and in an amusing yet inspiring way. Hmm, maybe he can play QB, let’s take a closer at this guy!

Is it just me, or does that photo make Manziel look like even more of a midget than he really is?

Anyway, I hope Hoyer manages to hold on to his spot as QB1 and leads the Browns to the playoffs. He seems like a guy who says and does all the right things. I am far from a Cleveland supporter, but their fans deserve some sunshine and I would prefer it be with a guy like Hoyer (who you really cannot hate) leading them than Manziel soaking up the spotlight on what is going to have to be a complete team effort.

On a weekend when Cleveland gets to rise up out of its collective Clevelandness and feel good about all its sports teams….the CURSE is lifted. Joel Embiid breaks his foot BEFORE we draft him number one, We get Johnny Football, and now the King returns….which NO national reporter gave us any chance of happening. After the drive, the fumble, Modell and the decision…light is finally shining our way.

Darin, long time Cleveland fan (+50 years-probably too long) and have never heard the term Clevelandness. That term describes my situation perfectly, nice word. I was a bit surprised with the LeBron return, that in the world of Clevelandness, Goodell didn’t bring us back down to earth with a lifetime ban of Gordon.

What would it hurt to bring back Vince Young….. He’s the best insurance policy you could ever have…
(NFL Rookie of the Year, 2 Pro Bowls, Playoff experience and Mobility). Vince has a career winning record of 31-19…
He can help a team…even if it’s only to upgrade the team’s quarterback pool…

With Johnny Football there in Cleveland Connor Shaw will not get a short in a Browns Uniform ( they aren’t going to go with Hoyer being backed up by two rookies), but Shaw is a solid QB that someone like Huston or Pittsburgh should look closely at.

Shaw has a solid arm, scramble ability but uses the pocket like a pro and can read defenses ; in honesty he is actually better than Johnny Selfie, but Hype will win out and Connor wont be in Cleveland.

If Shaw ended up in Minnesota he would be another Kurt Warner Story in the making..a QB Coach’s dream…. The Browns will have a solid Defense matched by a solid running game, which will open up the passing game; but sadly with no serious deep threat WR , that will leave the Browns with a lot of close low scoring losses in a 7-9 season health issues pending… and that is better than all the years past, but still only tied for 3rd in the AFC North and missing the playoff’s … This Year

Would love to see Brian throw that 93mph heater he used to throw for the St.Ignatius baseball team. He was the starting pitcher as a Soph and won the State Baseball Championship game. I think the fans would go wild if he threw the high hard one one time at Progressive Field.

Hoyer looked like he was on his way last year, before he got hurt, and I felt really sorry for his bad luck.
I hope he keeps Johnny Jackass riding the bench, which is what he deserves cuz he is a tainted human.